Friday, October 27, 2017

Let’s hear it for our contributors to The Octo Review #2. Hundreds of views from all over the world, everyone loved it. (why do I feel like Donnie Trumpo when I say that?)

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Well I keep meaning to drop in here and let you know what’s going on, but these past few months have been so busy I haven’t had time to think, let alone be an octopus.

You know how i HATE being busy, too.

And you know I’m trying to determine whether I have early onset dementia or if all the technologies have made my brain less linear and organized. (or maybe it’s the testosterone? but probably the dementia.)

There is so much i want to address here in The Octopus Extra Extra Fake News Diary—I’m going to make a list so I remember it all, and I’ll get around to expounding on it whenever.

1. The #metoo hashtag. This was eye-opening for me, but probably not in the way you think. I wasn’t surprised by the numbers, I was surprised at how sexual assault has come to include the slightest micro-agressions—stuff that was considered “nothing” when i was young—along with the most violent physical attacks. And despite all this redefining and boundary-setting we’re still not 100% clear on what sexual assault is. I think the hashtag started out as a “raise your hand if you’ve been harassed at work” but it became much more than that; women shared accounts that ran the full spectrum from verbal harassment to horrific bodily injury. [Some men chimed in too, either in support of women in their lives, or in revolt against sexual assault being seen as only a “women’s issue.”] But so many of the posts began, “I’m not sure if this qualifies as abuse or not…”

And since we’re still not sure what qualifies as abuse, it keeps happening with alarming frequency.

[I didn’t chime in. Had I known #metoo would be trending in 2017, i wouldn’t have written extensively about my experiences with sexual assault in 2010/11 (back when I was a better writer & didn’t have dementia). I didn’t feel like recounting it —again!— on the Facebook wall. But I do have more to say about the whole phenomenon; I picked up lots of cool academicky gender-studies lingo too, so you bet I’ll be slinging that around. SOON, in The Octopus Diary.]

2. I heard it was National Coming Out Day a few weeks ago. I read some (mostly) heartwarming coming out stories and it made me think… I’ve never told my coming out story because my coming out was sooooo prolonged and squashed and deformed and untimely and shapeless. I’ve decided I’m going to “architect” a coming out story that is both true and heartwarming, possibly w/ illustrations. Possibly an Adventure in Reality. I will share it here in The Octopus Diary. Soon.

3. Speaking of coming out, Adventures in Transitioning continues and I’ll share some of my progress because you’re all adults and you can handle it: I’m still afraid I’m going to be made fun of (or labeled crazy, or beaten up) if I take myself seriously as a trans man. So I go about it in a half-hearted manner. Lately though, I’ve been passing as male more often, so I’m forced to reckon with seeing myself as a guy. It’s quite a mindfuck, both exhilarating & scary. I’ll say more about it SOON (you know where)

4. I experienced age-ism for the first time. I say “we’re all adults here” but are we? Just like gender and sexual assault, adulthood falls on a spectrum. There’s a funny little anecdote that goes with this & I’ll try to remember to tell it to you , here , in T.O.D.

Eloise & Pecker

5. But here’s the most important thing: In preparation for becoming a mystic in my twilight years, I’ll be offering free Tarot readings for the next year or so, or until I feel like I’m skilled enough to charge the standard mystic rate of $120/hr.

As you may’ve read in my Summer Series on Spirituality I have studied and dabbled in many mystical arts since I was young, but a couple years ago when I was going through an extra difficult time, I returned to studying the Tarot deck in depth. I found much comfort and reliable advice (not always easy, but reliable) in the cards, and I feel like I have a much more intimate, intuitive relationship with this fascinating oracle than I ever have.

I would love to practice reading for other people, so if you’re interested, let me know. (If you’re local we can meet in person, but I can also read for you via Skype or the dreaded phone if you’re out of town.)

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Eloise & Pixel

All right. That about covers it. As you probably heard (on Earbook) our little kitty Eloise died. Enjoy these photos of her unbelievably cute life.

I may not be back here until I finish my Illustrated Adventure in Coming Out, so if you don’t hear from me before the end of November, remember—

—submissions for the Winter Equinox issue of The Octopus Review open on Thanksgiving weekend. Send me poetry & art!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lois Betterton is poet who grew up in Yonkers, New York and
has resided in Sarasota, Florida since 1998. She began writing poetry as a
young child and has embraced the written word all her life. She founded
and hosts the Tea House Poets in Sarasota with other local, free range,
organic, poets.

The
story is not new, it’s been told many times. In lyrics, in songs, in plays, in
poems, in books, in movies and sometimes even on television.

As
animals we walked on four legs, low to the ground, connected to nature. The
animal heard the fruit say. “What if you reach up with those feet and pick this
apple.” It’s our imagination that allows us to reach for the knowledge of
forbidden fruit.

The
story is told again and again with many characters, many scenes, many settings,
many version, many revisions and sometimes even on television.

As
the fire burns and the smoke curls we sit entranced by the rhythm of the voice,
the melody of the tune, the turn of the phrase. “Lookin' for adventure. And
whatever comes our way…is how the story begins.” says the voice of the author.

The story has gotten small. Emotions are now emojis. In blogs,
in posts, in Tweets, on Facebook and
sometimes even on television.

As
the last battery drains the power electric from our machines, we will be reborn
as our natural selves again. We will hear the plants and the animals as if they
are our neighbors. Our being will rejoin with nature and the story will be new,
unending.

Tony Egler is an avid
Science and Science Fiction enthusiast who for many years has engaged his muse
as a spectator, but has longed to be an adept. He has practiced his craft with
the development of screen plays, manuscripts and short fiction. He lives in
Sarasota Florida with his partner and co-conspirator. His work has appeared in
AntiMatter magazine.

Allison
Grayhurst
is a member of the League of Canadian Poets. Four times nominated for “Best of
the Net”, 2015/2017, she has over 1125 poems published in over 450
international journals and anthologies. She has 21 published books of poetry,
six collections and six chapbooks. She lives in Toronto with her family. She is
a vegan. She also sculpts, working with clay; www.allisongrayhurst.com

Ryan Quinn Flanagan is a Canadian-born author residing in Elliot
Lake, Ontario, Canada with his wife and many bears that rifle through his
garbage. His work can be found both in print and online in such places
as: Evergreen Review, The New York Quarterly, The Octopus Review, In Between
Hangovers, Red Fez, and The Oklahoma Review.

Tim Anderson, originally from Memphis TN spent a great deal
of his youth with his backpack on traveling the States. Having a penchant for
honky-tonks, free spirit women and roadside taverns there are many of these
States where his welcome was worn out.

Russell Jaffe is the editor of TL;DR magazine (
tldrmagazine.com ), teaches at Loyola University in Chicago and Fusion Academy
in Oak Brook, and stars in literary study guides for Course Hero. He is the
author of the poetry collections This Super Doom I Aver (Poets Democracy, '12),
INTROVERT//EXTROVERT (Punk Hostage Press, '14), LA CROIX WATER (Damask, '16),
and Civil Coping Mechanisms (Civil Coping Mechanisms, '17). He wants YOU to
know that the kingdom of the dead isn't some afterlife far-off place, but a
place that rises up and around us, between the spaces and cracks like a mist,
until it overwhelms us, and then, as if suddenly, we have always been there.

the
ice-cream people waver distracted by 31 potentially life changing flavors

Mike Zone is the author of Fellow Passengers: Public
Transit Poetry, Meditations & Musings and Better than the Movies: 4
Screenplays. His poetry and stories have been featured in: Beatnik
Cowboy, Horror Sleaze Trash, In Between Hangovers, Mad Swirl, Rasputin Poetry,
Synchronized Chaos, Triadae Magazine and Your One Phone Call. He
scrapes by in Grand Rapids, MI.

ARTISTS:

Steve Guthrie is a graduate of Ringling
School of Art & Design. Check out his band WASHBAER somewhere on the internet.

Sandra Lefever holds a Fine Art degree from Carnegie Mellon University. She was
born, currently lives, and frankly, will probably die in Sarasota,
Florida. http://sandralefever.comInstagram: mytinymoleskine